The Wednesday (March 27) announcement that WWL-TV anchor Angela Hill would retire from newscast duty just one week later was, in the words of colleague Dennis Woltering, a “bombshell.”

In the world of New Orleans TV news, it wasn’t an overstatement. For nearly four decades, Hill has been one of the city’s most popular news figures, broadcast or print. Her decision to step down into semi-retirement – she’ll continue to produce hour-long documentaries and specials for the station -- came as a surprise to many of her colleagues and competitors.

“It’s not like she’s lost anything off her fastball,” said an astonished Jim Henderson, the former WWL sports director now a member of the WVUE sports team.

The announcement’s timing was as surprising as the announcement itself. Hill will make her farewell from nightly newscasts – a promotable event sure to draw a big audience -- between the February and May “sweeps” ratings periods. The exit date she picked, she said, comes two days before the 38th anniversary of her first day at WWL.

Beyond Thursday, Hill will team with Dominic Massa, the station’s special-projects director, for her new assignment producing long-form stories, a job conceived by Tod Smith, the station’s president and general manager.

“I wanted to continue the station’s relationship with her, but more important fill a void that exists in the marketplace,” Smith said. “She is such a wonderful storyteller.”

Hill will embark on her next career phase after a long vacation with her husband of 13 years, Dr. Irwin Marcus.

I interviewed Hill the day after her announcement, on the morning of her 64th birthday. Her mobile phone beeped, buzzed or rang continuously during our talk, which covered the nearly four decades she’s worked at WWL, but also looked to the future.

This is part one of a series of stories recapping the interview, to be continued on NOLA.com each day leading up to her final newscast, which will come at 6 p.m. Thursday (April 4).

The edited Q&A:

Question: You said Wednesday that this decision had been brewing for a while. Tell me a little bit about that. Had you ever visualized not doing the daily news? It was such a huge part of your life for all of your adult life. Tell me a little bit about the process.

Answer: I think probably a couple of years ago I started seeing visions, but probably in the last year it's really manifested itself to, “There must be life beyond the anchor desk, and what can I do?” And that's a real question. We have great skill-sets, but what can I do? And then there was the issue of the security of that anchor desk, and letting go. I think it was truly a whole year of, “Let me work through this. How can I handle this? How am I going to feel about it? How will I function every day?”

And then there was this complete -- not a revelation, but an awareness that, “There's a world out there, Angela. You do want to do other things.” Our industry, like your industry, is changing, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It's just change.

News is getting shorter. My mind was getting longer. To have the opportunity, really because of Tod Smith, to do hour-long? Oh, my gosh. The form that those hour-long projects are going to take, Dominic and I will sit down and brainstorm over the coming months. I have some ideas, and I'm sure he does, too, that I'm very excited about.

That's a lot of real estate in television.

It's a lot. But that is how (the decision) came about. How do I do this, and when do I let go? The time was right. My contract was coming up. It was the natural flow of things. I really look at this as the next adventure, that I have this new work that I can start, sort of at my leisure. It can be this fall or it can be early next year. There are other things out there that I don't know about, that now, unencumbered by the restrictions of news, I’ll be able to do.

I believe every word you're saying, but I have to ask out of respect for your career and the respect that viewers have for you, was there a nudge at all from station management?

I've been asked that several times, from people within and without. No, there was not a nudge. There was not, “Angela, it's time to wrap it up.” That actually would've made it easier. This was all from within, it really was. I don't take this lightly. This was a difficult process. It has been such an incredible part of my life, and there were other factors. I don't mean it flippantly, but I am married to a wonderful guy. He really did get the short end of the stick for all the years we've been together, and never complained, never said a word. If I'm at a fundraiser, he's there. He just got it. But now, I really feel, is the time we need to really spend some time together.

He has three dynamite kids, all living in different states, and wonderful grandchildren living in different places. We’ll be able to go to them. We have a little place in Maine that we got about nine years ago. It's a work in progress, but we’ll spend time there.

Is there anything in your ongoing deal with WWL that locks you into that station? Is it a possibility that a year from now, or six months from now, that you'll show up at another station?

No, that will not happen. My deal with Channel 4 is with Channel 4. I'm not an employee anymore. I'm going to be a contract worker with the understanding that I will not be working for any of the other TV stations. If I do other things -- this is a hypothetical, because there's nothing out there -- let's say I get involved in doing commercials or something, and they aired on another station, that would be OK. While I am doing this work for Channel 4, I will not be on channel 6, 8 or 26.

Why is your last day April 4 and not during May “sweeps?”

Because my contract was up March 19. I really thought that was the end. And Tod said, “Would you stay a little longer so that we can do this process,” which they did yesterday and we will do on Thursday. My 38th anniversary at WWL is April 6. I was really aiming toward that. Emotionally, once that decision was made, I thought, “I don't have to do another rating period.” You could just continue on and on. There had to be a break-point.

And Tod and (WWL news director) Bill Siegel didn’t come to you on their knees begging you to work through May?

No.

You haven't had to worry for a minute of your adult life about ratings...

Please don't say that, Dave. That's a major correction. We always worry about those ratings. I'm looking at them daily, and during that rating period, we circle like buzzards. We feel the competition, that it is real, so don't say that.

The only reason I ask is that any station, not just WWL, would want your farewell to come during a ratings period. But you had a date in mind that had some resonance, and that’s what you’re sticking to.